Disengagement on borders in eastern Ladakh intricate: Army

Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 16

Without mincing words, the Army on Thursday made it clear that the process to reach complete disengagement on the borders in eastern Ladakh was intricate even as it said both India and China were committed to “complete disengagement” as agreed to during the July 5 discussions between the special representatives of the two countries.

Reflecting on the nature of discussions between the Corps Commanders of Indian and Chinese armies that began on Tuesday morning and stretched into the early hours of Wednesday, the Indian Army stated in most emphatic terms that the “two sides remain committed to the objective of complete disengagement,” underlining the “consensus” reached between Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the end of their talks via videoconference on July 5.

In a sort of explanation that why this commitment could not be translated into the early timeframe, the Army cautioned against any expectations on early results on the ground, as it said, “This process is intricate and requires constant verification.”

The complexion of the issue was understandable as the two armies, despite their bit by bit disengagement, wanted physical verification of the disengagement on the ground.

An official statement released by the Army on Thursday while referring to the commander-level meetings in Chushul on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control — the fourth such round of talks between the Corps Commanders of India and China of their respective regions facing each other — said, “The senior commanders reviewed the progress on the implementation of the first phase of disengagement and discussed further steps to ensure complete disengagement.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Wednesday had said: “The Chinese and the Indian border troops held the fourth round of commander-level talks on July 14. Building on the common understanding reached at the previous three rounds of the commander-level talks and corresponding implementation work, the two sides achieved progress in further disengagement between the border troops as well as easing the situation at the western sector of the China-India boundary.”

“We hoped that India would work with China to implement our consensus with concrete actions and jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” Chunying added.

There has been a standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops at the LAC since the first week of May.

“The engagement was consistent with the consensus reached between the special representatives of India and China earlier on July 5 to discuss complete disengagement,” officials said on the Sino-India military talks.